Reality hits hard, bro.

The miko is dead. All hail the new Miko.

And this is why she switched to danmaku.

She should have practiced her kemari more often.

gameplay mechanics?

Yes, this is what happens when you miss kicking the ball in the first Touhou game.

Yeahh, another six weeks of Arkanoid-training for you, Reimu.

The ball was easily as deadly as the bosses in that game.

Gigawatt5 said:
Yes, this is what happens when you miss kicking the ball in the first Touhou game.

It's not what happens when you miss, it's what happens when the ball hits Reimu. Fortunately, you have a melee attack as well as an ofuda attack, and there are some kicking combos you can execute to send the ball really flying.

Oddly enough, this looks like the game over screen.